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The Invention of Nature Alexander Von Humboldt’s New World
Andrea Wulf
Alfred A. Knopf Publishers, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-35066-2 |
According to the author, Humboldt has been mostly forgotten from the English speaking world, due to a number of factors, most notably the distancing from all things German after two world wars. Here she attempts to right that wrong, and she does a marvelous job. Indeed Humboldt should be acknowledged as perhaps the most influential naturalist of the 19th century, responsible for not only understanding the interconnectedness of the natural world to its environment and the humans living within it, but also popularizing his insight to the general public. Given the environmental challenges we face currently, rediscovering Humboldt becomes particularly relevant now. This book is not only wonderfully readable, but also comprehensible to non-specialists, no small feat given the complexity of the main character and his life story. Moreover, the tome contains a series of maps, color plates and a large number of period-specific illustrations aiding the reader throughout the narrative.
In case readers today require further incentives to become acquainted with Humboldt, they should understand that he directly influenced such luminaries as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Thomas Jefferson, Simón Bolívar, Charles Darwin, Henry David Thoreau, Ernst Haeckel, George Perkins Marsh and John Muir. As such, his impact was not only widespread then, but given the subsequent social, artistic and scientific impact of these disciples, we can also argue that Humboldt’s spirit remains very much alive today.
